Perspectives on the beautiful game of soccer; fueled by enormous amounts of coffee

Sunday, September 7, 2008

The rest of the story

Luis wrote a post-game article that included a Kyle Beckerman quote, but he left out the Nick Rimando cameo.

Luis and I were part of a group of reporters around Kyle in the locker room. Just as Kyle said his bit about Edson taking advantage of an inch of space, Nick walked by.

"He got more than an inch," the goalkeeper asserted. "He got two inches, at least." He walked on, shaking his head. Apparently he was a bit frustrated, either at himself for giving up the rebound, or his defenders for not clearing the ball. Maybe both.

Kyle apparently agreed with Nick, because he then said the second part of the quote. He also mentioned how well Edson has been playing this year, said it's clear that he has the momentum of self-belief.

As for Edson, he agreed that scoring this season was helping him play well and have patience when trying to score. It led to him being a bit tricky on the goal he scored, as he confused the defenders a bit. "They thought I was going to hit it first time. To take a touch gave me a bit more space to slot that ball. If I didn't have so many goals right now, I probably would have blasted it, first time. I'm a little more confident now in that situation."

Espindola was really upset about his injury, fighting back tears in the locker room as he sat, disconsolate, with crutches. He said he'd celebrated goals with flips before, but never suffered an injury. He swore never to take the chance again. It was a particularly disheartening moment for him because not only was he playing so well lately, but the goal he celebrated was called back. "If I'd seen the offside flag just two seconds sooner - I wouldn't have celebrated and this wouldn't have happened."Yet if any coach in the league would be understanding about Espindola's celebration, it would be Kreis. A backflip was his trademark for years. He also scored a lot, so he flipped around a lot. Sure enough, Kreis didn't fault his player's actions. "I did that for years," he pointed out. "These things happen. It's possible for him to get hurt going down a flight of stairs."Or up a flight of stairs. I was taking the stairs to the pressbox soon after talking to Espindola. I tripped and pitched forward. I was carrying my laptop, so I turned to take the brunt of the impact on one arm, holding the laptop away safely.I hurt my wrist, but I don't think it's broken. Still, it felt like Espindola's misfortune was contagious.